I became obsessed with the console version of this game right before covid hit and I associate it heavily with the early lockdown era. It was a great game to lose myself in while listening to music and I wasn't too bad at building oversized fleets and just eviscerating everybody in the galaxy.

I would soon after make my move to PC gaming and, of course, purchase this game on Steam. I was met with a completely different game. I never really got anywhere near as into it after that. Even worse once I got a little used to it, it would completely change again so I just dumped it.

It's a complicated game for me to rate because I really don't like what it currently is but that original playthrough was such a great experience.